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On
Wednesday the 22nd November 1989, Fiona, the Countess of
Arran set a new World Record of 50.825 mph (81.793kph)
in an electric boat named "An Stradag". This
beat the previous record set by Miss
Nickel Eagle in 1978, by a clear 5mph. The
name is derived from Gaelic meaning "the
spark."
The
seed for this record attempt was planted three years
earlier by a group of men keen to sweep away the
prejudices against electric motor boating as being
anything other than a sedate 6mph for a limited
distance. So it was that in September 1986 Rupert
Latham (Steam & Electric Launch Company of Wroxham,
Norfolk) and Kevin Desmond steered the 21ft "Frolic
998" out onto the Norfolk Broads and cruised
continuously for 23 hours, covering 101 miles without
recharging.
Then
in December 1987 at Regents Canal, Little Venice, West
London, five skiffs fitted with electric outboard motors
and one standard 12v Oldham battery, cruised around a
3/4 mile course (1320 yards) until their batteries were
exhausted. The winner of this event organised by
Lucas, was Andrew Wolstenholme in his 15 foot boat
"Chippendale-Sprite." This boat was
powered by a prototype radial armature, permanent magnet
built by Cedric Lynch.
An
Stradag on her record return run
"An
Stradag" was designed by Lorne Campbell. It
was built by Nick Barlow of Mayday Marine, Woolston,
Southampton, of gabon plywood bonded together with epoxy
resin to form a 3 point hydroplane 15 feet long and
weighing in at just 210 lbs. She used four packs
of SB40 aircarft starter batteries and four Lynch motors
driving through chains to two three bladed surface
piercing propellers.
The
record set by Miss Nickel Eagle remains a national one
simply because before 1988 the UIM
had no official category for electric powerboats.
However, this deficiency was brought to the attention of
the RYA and the UIM by the efforts of Kevin Desmond and
others and finally the Rules written to bring the sport
up to date with current events.
Countess
Lady Arran signals her satisfaction
An
Stradag was sponsored by:-
Harwin
connectors -
Hawker
Energy -
DMS
electronics -
Electro
Marine Technology - motors
Morganite
-
Benning
UK - electronics
Hallmark
trailers -
Jewson
timber and building supplies - plywood
S
P Resins, Cowes - adhesives and others........
.......without
sponsorship this record could not have been achieved -
thanks to all who contributed.
The
standing Union Internationale Motornautique (UIM) record
belongs to Fiona, Countess of Arran, whose 1989 mark in
An Stradag stands at 50.825mph (81.793kph).
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